Some History About 90s POKEMANIA

Some brief history about Pokemania and how it took kids in the mid and late 1990s by storm.
SUBSCRIBE: / @tymforhistory
HASHTAGS: #pokemon #pokemania

[@mmecharlotte]

While I enjoy the later gens, the 1st Gen holds a special place in my heart. I was just 9yo when Pokemania hit. My dad surprised me with a Gameboy and Pokemon Red just in time for our family summer roadtrip. I played the entire car ride across three states, using a flashlight at night, buying batteries at the gas stations, and I related to the protag of the game because I was also going on a journey to new places too. I even met kids that traded with me in some rest stops and hotels. It was magical. Then Gold/Silver came around and I fell in love with the games all over again.

[@Hiars_D.]

Being a kid and a Pokémon fan was something special. I spent endless hours playing Pokémon Blue on my Game Boy, trading Pokémon with friends after school to complete our Pokédex. Watching Ash and Pikachu in the Pokémon League was the highlight of our week, and we’d gather to watch every new episode. Pokémon cards were a huge craze too, with afternoons spent trading, playing, and strategizing. The best part was sharing these experiences with friends, all brought together by our love for Pokémon.

[@blackfrieza6969]

Dragon Ball Is My First Intro To Japanese Media, But Pokémon Used Attract And I Was Infatuated.

[@Sanicfan9192]

POKéMON used ATTRACT! It’s super effective!

[@charliekart1085]

I remember going to my local mall for a game tournament to battle other players, only to get stomped by a guy in his 40s. But I got a Mew from the exclusive event, so it evened out

[@TimLukeyMusic]

Dude you're a fantastic and engaging presenter, I mean it helps that you're talking about something I'm obsessed with but you deserve more subs!

[@taylorswan8587]

I had a great childhood, and Pokémon was a massive part of that. I have so many memories, and it’s so much stuff that goes beyond just playing the games. I remember going to see the first movie in theater, and my dad telling me he was going to get popcorn so he could sit in the lobby instead of having to watch it. I remember getting the birthday Pikachu promo from my friend Shaun because he was just sick of everybody at school asking for it. Biking around my neighborhood with a plastic Poke ball thinking I was Ash running from Beedrill, playing Pokemon monopoly, explaining every species to my very patient grandmother, getting episode novelizations and organizing cards. Somehow, one of my strongest memories of all of that is just sitting in my childhood living room, staring in fascination at the base set Switch trainer card. It’s funny in retrospect, maybe some of the panic over the obsession we had with Pokémon was valid, because I grew up loving Star Wars, Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, all the franchises that a younger millennial had at his disposal. But now, two months away from turning 30, the only one of them that has held on to me emotionally is Pokémon. My collection of Gen 1 cards is prodigious now. The Indigo League is oft recurring background noise while I do stuff at home. I have a little shelf in my bedroom with my gameboy color, yellow version, and some of the Tomy figures I grew up with. And the smell of the old cards is still the most nostalgic agent I’ve ever found.

[@FrostDrive]

I remember getting home from school everyday and watchinh pokemon anime immediately. But always missing the first 5-10 minutes of every episode.

[@tymforhistory]

Sounds like me but with the first 20 of 23 minutes of Dragon Ball Z.

[@judgesaturn507]

I wasn't there in the late 90's, but I was there in 2016 when Pokemon Go hit. You know something is a phenomenon when a presidential candidate mentions it in a speech...

[@beenie6969]

burger king ran a special where you could get a “gold” pokémon card with a big kids meal. my neighbors stole mine from me.

[@tymforhistory]

A golden era for thieving children!

[@SirChiefsAlot]

I still have 4 out of 5 of those gold cards. Missing the gold Charizard, but they're on display on my gaming set up to this day.

[@BaronLickilicky]

Really well made video! I especially agree with your conclusion that Pokemon played a big role in making cartoons and video games more mainstream, where they had previously been much more niche. I also think you highlighted a point which is easy to miss - there was something almost exotic about this strange fad which arrived from Japan. Playing Pokemon as a child in the late 90s made me feel like I was in some kind of special club. Secrets spread around the playground, rumours of Mist Stones and Bill's Secret Garden, and this mysterious glitch Pokemon which could give you infinite items... It all added to the allure and mystery.

[@gabrielh989]

I was there for it all, I loved every second of it lol

[@classictimer4052]

I was born in 2002, but I know from my mom and uncle that pokemania was just as big here in Europe as is was in America. Really makes me wish I was born a decade earlier so I could have experienced those times.

[@swagkirby3449]

I got into Pokemon during Gen 3, when Pokemania was dying out...I remember being so sad when Toys R Us only had those Poke Ball keychains in the clearance section

[@Laz3rCat95]

Great video! Pokemon was such a big part of my childhood, even after the initial craze. I remember sometimes watching the anime after school, and of course playing the games even throughout the GBA and DS eras.

[@HS-hx8ti]

Even though the generations following the first games weren't as successful, they still sold amazingly well and were best sellers within their years of release. If anything, interest in Pokemon didn't truly start declining until the 2010s (gen 5-7) until interest was revived by Pokemon Go in 2016.

[@tymforhistory]

Agreed. The difference in popularity between the Pokemania years and post-Pokemania years was a drop off but not to any point that Pokemon became irrelevant by any stretch. But by the time Crystal dropped, the mania era was definitely done.

[@JohnSmithsu2006]

for the 20th anniversary of pokemon my tv network had all the movies on demand for like 3 dollars.. i ended up wasting over 60 dollars on pokemon movies that day. i was like 12 or 13 and my parents were absolutely pissed. I've been watching the series with subtitles, playing rom hacks based off the anime and manga and I've even collected some japanese exclusive promo cards from the anime that feature ash and brock's pokemon.

[@PanicAttackTwo]

Great content, well edited. Keep it up and you’ll be very successful.

[@LegioXXI]

i still have this special Mew Pokemon card that you got when going to the first movie in cinema...

[@tymforhistory]

Did you get the Dragonite one too?

[@teresamartinez8372]

we played together as a family we learned the game, we had a local gaming store made good friends ! have a garage full of toys and cards

[@lukas3446]

my only experience with pokemon was picking up a card off the road when i was 12 and going home to look up to see if it was valuable. it was not

[@tymforhistory]

Sounds like me also looking at my current binder of cards.

[@chibicheeks78]

At the age of 21, in 1999, I sat down with my brothers to watch my first episode of Pokemon. They were also into the cards. They abandoned it but I’ve been a fan ever since.

[@whimsicalVanilla]

I remember in the 90's and early 2000's there was a LOT of pokemon themed food. Pokemon cereal (that came with a prize, of course), canned pokemon spaghetti, pokemon macaroni and cheese, pokemon waffles, etc. Even snacks that weren't pokemon shaped might come with a pokemon sticker or temporary tattoo.

[@tymforhistory]

Let me know which part of Pokemania was the most memorable for you!

[@HS-hx8ti]

Spending summer vacation at religious relatives house during the height of season 1, and having to put up a prolonged fight to be allowed to watch the anime. I had to watch it in secret in the basement and only if I didn't tell my younger cousins lol.

[@constantinosfudas3785]

Dragonite Card good buy many money

[@vocaeien]

7:40 mentions sydney, like australia? i tried to google but couldn't find anything 🥴 unless i misheard

[@tymforhistory]

Sorry about that! Yes I meant Sydney Australia.

[@mydjsobad]

Kahn absolutely did not come up with the name Pokemon, it was being used in relation to the franchise as far back as January 1996 (before the games were even released) in a feature Corocoro comics published to promote the series. The change in name is said to be a result of Pocket Monsters sounding too similar to the existing 90s franchise "Monster in my Pocket".

[@alexhawkins7674]

I'm not sure as to the actual point of this video. This is just the umpteenth Pokémon retrospective/history video isn't it? I honestly think that this topic has been overdone to death.

[@tylerthompson3075]

You talk like someone who is too young to remember the context but you look like you're 40.